In a new blow to drug trafficking, Colombian authorities managed to seize 1.15 tons of cocaine in an operation carried out in the town of El Bordo, department of Cauca. This was reported by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, through his account on the social network X.
This important seizure joins other recent ones against drug trafficking in Colombia. Last week, the National Navy and the Air Force intercepted two semi-submersibles in Pacific waters off Nariño, managing to seize 4,919 kilos of cocaine that were transported illegally.
Three Colombians were traveling in one of the semi-submersibles, who tried to sink the boat with 2,700 kilos of cocaine before being captured. In the other were two Colombians and an Ecuadorian, who also tried to open the valves to prevent the 2,219 tons of drugs from falling into the hands of the authorities.
According to the InSight Crime research center, in 2023 Colombian authorities managed to seize a total of 739.5 tons of cocaine, 12.1% more than the previous year. Of that total, 450 tons were confiscated in international waters, according to figures from the Ministry of Defense.
This increase in seizures responds to the Government’s new strategy of prioritizing the interdiction of drug shipments and the capture of key members of drug trafficking networks, instead of focusing exclusively on coca growers and consumers.
The cultivation and production areas of base paste and cocaine have been concentrated mainly on Colombia’s borders with Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru, which has required a special effort from the authorities in those regions.
#Colombia
